The present invention relates generally to presentation of a series of related images, and more particularly, but not exclusively, to presentation of those images in a larger consistent frame of reference that dampens localized apparent image jitter.
Many types of portable electronic devices allow a user to capture a series of images, the uses of these devices are causing significant growth in a quantity of digital photographs that are casually acquired and displayed. In most cases these images are captured under non-ideal conditions, with non-ideal acquisition equipment, by non-professional imagers. For example, in situations such as filming with a hand-held camera: a) from a moving vehicle, b) during sporting activities, c) in a high-vibration environment, d) by a user with novice filming skills, and/or e) while imaging in extreme high-stress situations (e.g., while running on foot), many image sequences exhibit, when played back using conventional players, a high degree of unwanted motion or jitter caused from randomized motion of the camera about the desired field-of-view. Even videos acquired in normal conditions show a certain amount of unwanted shaking, and under some conditions professional imagers will produce image sequences with undesirable amounts of shaking.
There exist several methods for stabilizing a video image, either as the image is being acquired, or as a post-processing step before display. Some cameras provide mechanical image stabilization at the time the image is acquired, utilizing inertial measuring devices such as accelerometers or gyroscopes to provide information to calculate camera motion in real time. Digital techniques can be employed that typically involve calculating image motion based on matching regions within the images themselves that are assumed to represent stable background features. These techniques suffer from limitations of accuracy, reliability, applicability, and computation time (not to mention energy, size, and cost considerations) and tend to work most effectively only when the jitter motion is small. These stabilization techniques generally involve some loss or compromise of the photographic information that is available in the raw, unprocessed image data. These solutions and techniques treat the randomized noise effects of the camera motion as undesirable distortion and interference to be eliminated. They are practically useless in cases where the camera motion is so great that, for example, one image frame may have moved completely outside the bounds of the previous image frame. The resulting presentation is often extremely awkward and difficult to see, and demands significant extra effort to interpret.
There exists a need for an apparatus and method of providing a display that simplifies presentation of related video frames to enable a user to better see and interpret videos exhibiting a high degree of localized apparent image jitter.